The present embodiments relate generally to the field of medical devices, and more particularly, to a multi-stranded tubular device for use during a medical procedure.
Various medical conditions may affect patients in an array of bodily passageways, such as vessels and ducts. In several instances, it may be desirable to insert a tubular medical device, such as a catheter or overtube, into the passageway as part of a medical procedure. The tubular device may comprise a generally cylindrical shape having an outer surface and one or more lumens.
Generally, various medical components may be delivered to a target site through one or more of the lumens of the tubular device. Solely by way of example, a snare, cutting device, visualization device, or numerous other components may be advanced through the lumen of the tubular device towards the target site. The medical components then may be advanced, retracted and/or rotated during the process of treating or visualizing the medical condition. If a co-axial system is used to deploy a medical component, then multiple tubes are delivered within a single lumen of the tubular device and actuated with respect to each other to achieve a desired effect.
When such medical components are delivered and used, they typically obstruct substantially the entirety of a particular lumen of the tubular device. For example, if a snare or cutting device is delivered through a given lumen, the outside diameter of the snare or cutting device, or an associated actuating member such as a wire or cable, may be only slightly smaller than the diameter of the lumen. Accordingly, there may be little additional space within a particular lumen, and thus only one component may be delivered and actuated at any given time. Notably, if a co-axial deployment system is delivered within a given lumen, it also would obstruct substantially the entirety of that lumen.
Increasing the overall diameter of the tubular device, to thereby increase the diameter of a working lumen, is not always a viable option because it may prohibit introduction of the tubular device in smaller vessels. Thus, many medical systems are limited in the amount of available working lumen space when medical components and associated actuation members are implemented during a procedure.